Friday, December 18, 2015

Dec. 18 – On this day in Montana
history in 1876 the final battle of what was known as the Great Sioux War
occurred. Lt. Frank D. Baldwin, who was a Civil War veteran and holder of two
Congressional Medals of Honor, and 140 troopers attacked and destroyed Sitting
Bull’s camp of 122 lodges and about 1,000 Native Americans on Ash Creek, a
tributary of the Redwater River south of Brockway. The weather was bitter cold,
and surprisingly neither side suffered any casualties in the encounter. But the
action forced most of the Native Americans back to reservations and ended the
conflict that included the famous Battle of the Little Big Horn.